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Halloween Haunts 2013: More Than Just Candy by David B. Riley

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One of my most viviRiley_cover_Gunslingersd childhood memories was of a haunted house in the neighborhood when I was young. It was the artificial variety. The guys who ran it where most likely high school students—certainly way older than me and my friends. These guys went all out. They had grave stones in the yard. Some dead guy hanging from a tree (and he was active, meaning he moved), lightning, and spooky music. It worked. It was really scary, at least to a little kid. Oh, did I mention the monster that reached out from the bushes and grabbed your feet? You could hear the girls screaming from a block away when that monster was out. And if you survived the gauntlet, you had to go up on the porch. They’d replaced the regular door with one with an opening for some creepy hand with claws. And that’s how you got your candy.

I don’t know how long this had been going on. I do know that I was on my first trick or treat with my friends and no more parents and we were free to venture beyond the block we lived on. All the kids we ran into were talking about this cool haunted house. I made it about halfway up the sidewalk. Then the lightning flashed, and the monster reached out and tried to grab me and I was off. The dead guy hanging from the tree made a grab for me as I tore past him. It’s a wonder I didn’t knock over one of the tombstones. My recollection was about half the kids were fleeing without any candy.

So, I found myself alone out on the street. My friends had all gone up and gotten their candy. I was surely going to be labeled a fraidy cat. I gathered my remaining courage and went back up to the house, staying well clear of the monster in the bushes. I got my candy and rejoined my friends. Wow, I’d done it. It was all we talked about until we had to go home.

And, the next year, we all boasted how we were going to the haunted house first. And it was there, or the house was anyway. But there was nothing haunted about it. Just a nice lady handing out candy. “What happened to the haunted house?” she was asked by every group, including ours.

“The boys have moved on,” was the only reply. Whatever that meant.

So, I don’t know who these guys were, but they showed me how much fun Halloween could be. I still think of that haunted house every year about this time.

Riley_cover_SteampunkTrailsTODAY’S GIVEAWAY: David is offering one free print copy of Gunslingers & Ghost Stories and one free print copy of Steampunk Trails, which he publishes and which made its debut on October 1.

Giveaway Rules: Enter for the prize by posting in the comments section. Winners will be chosen at random and notified by e-mail. You may enter once for each giveaway, and all entrants may be considered for other giveaways if they don’t win on the day they post. If you would like to comment without being entered for the giveaway, include “Not a Giveaway Entry” at the end of your post. You may also enter by e-mailing memoutreach@horror.org and putting HH CONTEST ENTRY in the header.

DAVID B. RILEY is a Colorado based author and editor. He has written over 100 short stories that have appeared in various anthologies and magazines. He is the editor of four western horror anthologies. The most recent one is Gunslingers & Ghost Stories. His blog is http://sftrails.blogspot.com/ and many of his stories are available from his Amazon page http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002BLR3SI.

 

12 comments on “Halloween Haunts 2013: More Than Just Candy by David B. Riley

  1. Things have sure come a long way since I was a kid. I grew up in the ’60s and back then, people’s idea of decorating for Halloween was taping up a few cardboard cut-outs of ghosts, witches, and pumpkins on their doors. I don’t remember any made-up haunted houses, but up the street from us was an abandoned synagogue with a overgrown yard surrounded by a black iron fence. There were always dares to climb over that fence and enter the yard or go up on the porch, but I don’t remember any kid who did that.

  2. I so miss the days where people scared on Halloween rather than put on a cutesy costume and make nice for the kiddies. My family always tried to scare the kids rather than give up the candy, only the brave got the goodies!

  3. I feel really lucky, because out here in California, where I’ve been living since 2002, there are a lot of people from the movie industry, especially the creative types who specialize in make up and effects, who dress up their houses for Halloween and put on exactly the same kind of haunted house shows you’re talking about for the kids in the neighborhood. There were at least 10 that I know of last year right within a 5 mile radius of where I live, so it’s very exciting to be able to walk around and discover these places each year. I even had an opportunity to participate in a Bob Burns Halloween show, which featured a recreation of the set from the original motion picture of version of THE THING. I feel really lucky to be living in a place that has this kind of thing happening every Fall!

  4. I’ve always loved and admired people that went all out with decorating their houses for Halloween. Great article.

  5. One of my favorite Halloween recollections was one Halloween in Mission Viejo, CA. There was this house that you knocked on the door and a creepy silent butler, like Lurch from the Adams Family, bade you go inside. In the living room, it was all decked out as if someone had recently died and in the middle of the room was a coffin flanked by burning candles. The coffin lid was open and you could see a guy inside the coffin and the candy dish was resting on top of his chest. You were supposed to walk up and help yourself to the candy. I had the courage to do so and when I did, he opened his eyes and said “Boo!” which creeped the hell out of us kids and we made a hasty exit. Imagine if he had grabbed us! We probably would have pissed on ourselves!

  6. Nice Halloween memory. These are the ones that stick with you, and keep reminding us what the holiday is all about. Being a kid again.

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